Shahmukhi alphabet

Shahmukhi alphabet
Not to be confused with Gurmuki, the Punjabi script used in India and other countries.

Shahmukhi
Type

Abjad

Languages

Punjabi

Parent systems Proto-Sinaitic

Phoenician

Aramaic

Nabataean

Arabic

Persian

Shahmukhi

Unicode range U+0600 to U+06FF [1]

[2]
U+0750 to U+077F
[3]
U+FB50 to U+FDFF
[4]
U+FE70 to U+FEFF

Shahmukhi alphabet

Extended Perso-Arabic script

History

Transliteration

Diacritics

Hamza

Numerals

Numeration

v
t

e [5]

Shahmukhi (Punjabi: , meaning literally "from the King's mouth") is a Perso-Arabic alphabet used to
write the Punjabi language. It is generally written in Nastalq hand. Perso-Arabic is one of two scripts used for
Punjabi, the other being Gurmukhi.
The Shahmukhi alphabet was first used by the Sufi poets of the Punjab; it became the conventional writing style for
the Muslim populace of the Pakistani province of Punjab following the Partition of India, while the largely Sikh
province of Punjab, India adopted the Gurmukhi script to record the Punjabi language.
Its' use in Indian Punjab is mainly confined to the elderly generation who lived on the other side of the border before
partition, although it is also recommended to be studied for students studying at M.A level in Punjabi.
It is however, used as the main alphabet to write the Pothohari dialect in Indian Jammu and Kashmir
Shahmukhi is written from right to left, while but Gurmukhi is written from left to right. Below is the comparison of
the two scripts:

Shahmukhi alphabet

The Gurumukhi sounds (), ng (), (), nh (/) are all written with : : nun ghunna (nun without dot). In
initial and medial positions, the dot is retained.
( Bari ye) is only found in the final position, when writing the sounds e () or (), and in initial and medial
positions, it takes the form of .
There are three signs used when indicating a short vowel: (), (), (): a, u, i.
Examples: ( ) qalam-pen ( ) ghup-dense ( ) lih-consideration
at the beginning of a word, short vowels are written as follows: , ,
Long vowels are expressed with , , and as follows:
Initial- ( ): ( ): e, ( ): ( ): ( ): au, o Medial- Final-
Consonants are doubled with () ex: ( ): Allh ( ): Kachch: unripe

Additional letters
There are a few additional letters that are occasionally used. This unicode is approved in 2006. They are:
bbe -
jje -
e -
ggaf -
rnoonh -

Shahmukhi alphabet

Loanwords
In Punjabi there are many Arabic and Persian loanwords. There are some sounds in these words which were not
previously found in South Asian languages before the influence of Arabic and Persian, and these are therefore
represented by introducing dots beneath specific Gurumukhi characters. Since the Gurmukhi alphabet is phonetic,
any loanwords which contained pre-existing sounds were more easily transliterated without the need for characters
modified with subscript dots beneath.

this is often transliterated in many ways due to its changing sound in various Arabic/Persian words.

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

http:/ / www. unicode. org/ charts/ PDF/ U0600. pdf

http:/ / www. unicode. org/ charts/ PDF/ U0750. pdf
http:/ / www. unicode. org/ charts/ PDF/ UFB50. pdf
http:/ / www. unicode. org/ charts/ PDF/ UFE70. pdf
http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Template:Arabic-script_sidebar& action=edit

External links
Shahmukhi to Gurmukhi Transliteration System: A Corpus based Approach (http://www.cicling.org/2008/
RCS-vol-33/12-Saini.pdf)
The Western Panjabi Alphabet (http://www.user.uni-hannover.de/nhtcapri/western-panjabi-alphabet.html)
Learn Shahmukhi (http://www.apnaorg.com/shahmukhi/)
Likhari in Shahmukhi (http://www.likhari.org/shamukhi.htm)
Kalam-e-Baba Nanak (http://apnaorg.com/poetry/nanak/)
Punjabi and Punjab (http://www.punjabiandpunjab.com/)
E-Book on Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi (http://www.apnaorg.com/books/hazarasingh/)
PDF on Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi (http://www.saanjhpunjab.org/)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Shahmukhi alphabet Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=613284544 Contributors: Aarp65, Abdullah Geelah, Alai, AlexanderKaras, Ali-Rana-77, Angr, AnonyLog, Anupam,
Arjayay, Arvind Iyengar, AyyoubW, Basawala, Bogdan Nagachop, ChrisGualtieri, DaGizza, DePiep, Derek R Bullamore, Dijan, Drmccreedy, Evertype, Firsfron, Gareth Griffith-Jones, Golbez,
Harisingh, Hendrick 99, Indiantrumpet, Io Herodotus, Islescape, John of Reading, Jonsafari, JMa, Katangoori, Kate, Khalid Mahmood, Kwamikagami, Leewonbum, Lethe, Lfdder, Lockley,
Mar4d, Mchapra, Meh.ahd, Mirajbibi, RaviC, Ruakh, Sajidnch, ShakirButtar, Si Gam, Sohailstyle, Stallions2010, Strider11, Sukh, Tahmasp, TalkChat, Thomas Milo, Tslocum, Varolay,
Vpendse, Wamiq, Widefox, Wiki Wikardo, Yuje, Zaheen, Zidi-jattt, Zulfikkur, , , 48 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

Image:Shahmukhi1.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Shahmukhi1.JPG License: Public Domain Contributors: Varolay

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